Youth Brigade (DC) — “I Object” from First Demo Summer ‘81 (2015, Dischord Records)
It was a sweltering August day in 1981 in Rockville, Maryland, just outside of our nation’s capital. I walked into Yesterday and Today Records, where I was greeted by an enthusiastic Skip Groff, who said, “Hey man, you have got to hear this tape!” and slid a copy of Youth Brigade’s demo across the counter. I didn’t understand, and the tape looked comically enormous in my tiny, chubby hands. I was three.
The above, in case you need to be told, is fiction.
But you know what else was three years old in 1981? Hardcore music. Shit, the term was newer still, having most likely been coined by Canadian ragers D.O.A. for their Hardcore 81 release. Youth Brigade, then, along with a handful of others, were building the boat as they sailed.
Or stealing the van as they toured. Apparently, they “borrowed” guitarist Tommy Clinton’s mom’s van for their Midwest tour, but she demanded its return upon threat of not sending him to college, and so the tour was cut short. Even so, they did get to play Black Flag’s first DC show, and that’s not nothing.
“I Object” is ferocious, starting with a frenetic snare roll that is soon joined by the guitar and bass before giving way to the punchy chorus. I have to imagine that this track, appearing as it did in the lead-off spot on the demo, must have been many listeners’ first experience with this new genre, and I can think of many worse places to start.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that there was another punk band called Youth Brigade active at the same time, this one from California. They’re cool enough, but not nearly my cup of tea in the same way DC Youth Brigade is, and I also have the foggiest memory of them having said or done something problematic (maybe racist?), though wasn’t able to confirm this online, so it’s possible that I’m manufacturing this bit of trivia and needlessly maligning their good names, in which case, uh, my bad, guys.
The Shuffler 